Dissension
by MissAuroraMarie
Summary: The first installment of the Dissension Trilogy. The fairies have lived for centuries underground and away from the humans, but now, after Artemis Fowl's research was released unintentionally on the Internet, will they be able to survive a cross-species war? They must travel the globe, hack forgein servers, and kill if needed. Who will win this time?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Okay, so here is the new story. The series is called the **_**Dissension Trilogy**_** and the first story is called Dissension. I have the names for the other two written down, and you won't get the name and summary of the next one until the final chapters of Dissension, and you won't get the name and summary of the last book until the final chapters of Book two. **

**I hope you enjoy. And anyone who is reading this that hasn't read the fifteen chapters of Our New Life, I would go read that. **

Chapter One

**Location: New York, New York  
Time: 1656  
Date: 02/09/2013**

"Get off of 6th Avenue now! Lead them down West 37th, and then make a right on 5th. This 6th Avenue plan isn't going to work out. They have a small base set up just twenty yards away from your location." There was a faint typing sound in the background, then a groan. "Just hurry up and get to the Empire. We cannot afford to lose New York too, you hear me? Hurry up, and get the boys moving off 't get any of them killed, understand?"

"Yes sir." The Major replied. He retrieved his Neutrino from its holster on his hip, and turned around the face his team. "Listen up!" he half-yelled. "Commander Kelp wants us to move off of 6th. Load up your weapons, and head toward West 37th. Stay together!" He ordered.

The team gathered their weapons and headed south on 6Th Avenue. The team was wary as the traveled on the abused streets of New York. The scene itself looked like an apocalypse movie. Buildings had gaping holes on the sides, concrete, paper, and ash cluttered the avenue, and smoke from a nearby fire made the air foggy. They approached 37th Street cautiously. The traffic light was completely demolished and the only thing that remained of the street post was the _ONE WAY _signs and the street names. The Major and his team walked down the street for several minutes before they began to get the feeling of someone watching them.

"Verbil, do a thermal scan. Something's not right here…" The Major commanded. "Everyone stop for a minute." He turned to face the group. Verbil turned around in a full circle, doing a complete thermal scan of the street.

"No signs of any other life here, sir." The Major nodded, but did not advance any farther. His vision remained focused on a figure that was crouching behind a truck.

"Run anoth…" The Major was thrown to the ground as the high speed bullet connected with his right shoulder. He got to his feet quickly and sealed off his helmet. "Seal your helmets and get behind something!" He barked into his helmet microphone. "Now!" The rest of the team fled behind cars or various hot dog and churro stands. More bullets were fired at them.

The Major leaned over the side of the Chevy he was behind and fired several blasts from the gun, all of them landing on the chest of his attacker. Two more enemy soldiers came into view and began firing at the cars and stands in a vain attempt to find the officers. "We're gonna have to make a run for it sir. There's nothing we can do. We kill them, more are just gonna come." Verbil said into his microphone. He looked over to the leader of their group. He couldn't see the Majors face behind his helmet visor, but he could tell he was in pain by the way his muscles tensed. "Ash, you okay?"

"I'll live." He replied. Ash sighed into the microphone. "Listen everyone. Make sure your guns are loaded and ready. We're gonna run like hell." _This, _the major thought, _may or may not work. Either way it goes, we're still losing officers. _And then: _Trouble is going to kill me. _"On my mark, we get up and run toward the Empire. If I get shot down, keep going! Understood?" There was a chorus of "Yes sirs." and "Oh gods."

"One."

Everyone's breathing became heavy. The enemy soldiers reloaded their weapons.

"Two."

For a moment, the officers stopped breathing and the only sound was the fast _whoosh _as the bullets zoomed by their helmet sensors.

"Three!"

The officers jumped up from behind their hiding places and took off. Immediately after Ash turned the corner, he knew that some of his officers had been shot down. But it was too late to turn around now.

They were only a couple of minutes away from the Empire State Building when Ash's shoulder's muscles began to tense up and burn. He fell behind his last two officers, which just happened to be Verbil and the younger Kelp brother. Ash took a moment to wonder how Grub had made it through that, but the pain in his right shoulder was too agonizing, and any other thoughts were quickly thrown into the Think- About- Later file located in the back of his mind.

The trio approached the Empire quickly, but when they were just outside the building, a broken fire hydrant sprayed water everywhere and soaked the officers before they entered the tiled lobby. Grub was the first one in. He tripped over his wet boots and landed in a crouched position. Chix slipped in after him and ran into a random officer in the lobby. Ash was the last inside. He slipped on the wet tile, landing forcefully on his bad shoulder. He let out a shriek of pain. In seconds, LEP medics and officers were at his side. They gripped his elbows and helped him into a sitting position.

"What the hell happened?" Trouble Kelp yelled as he rushed out of the elevator, Captain Holly Short following close behind.

"Ash!" Holly shrieked, running to his side. She knelt down on the ground, immediately checking his pulse and responsiveness. "Oh my Gods, what happened?" She turned to face Chix, who was standing beside Trouble.

"We were ambushed." Chix replied simply. He removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his brow. "He took the first shot. He tried to get us through it, but we lost Hunter, Voss, Adair, and Lloyd."

Trouble groaned. He hated losing officers. Not only was it difficult for them to contact the families and tell them about their loss, but it's not like he had officers to spare. He sighed. "Get him up to infirmary. Have Artemis fix him up the quickest he possibly can. I need him back on recon duty."

Holly stood up, hauling Ash to his feet and led him to the elevator. The infirmary was only on the fourth floor, so it was a quick ride up. Holly was thankful for that because she didn't know how much longer Ash would be able to stay sentient. When the doors to the elevator opened, she called for Artemis.

"Arty! We have a problem here!" Holly hauled Ash out of the elevator and placed him on one of the empty waiting area chairs. That wasn't such a big problem; surprisingly, the whole waiting area was empty. "I'll be right back." He nodded slowly. Holly ran down the hallway and through the double doors of the ICU. She searched up and down the various hallways until she finally found the Mud Boy in the Surgery Zone, discussing something with No.1. "Arty."

Artemis looked up from his clipboard. "Holly," he walked over to her. "What's wrong?"

"Ash got shot. I think it punctured an artery or shattered a bone." They began making their way down the corridor, to the waiting area. "Trouble needs to get him fixed up as fast as you can. He needs him back on the field."

"I'll see how fast I can repair the damage. But he has to understand that these kinds of things could take time to recovery properly." Holly nodded and opened the double doors. Artemis jogged over to Ash and examined his shoulder. He placed two fingers on his upper arm gently, but Ash's muscles tensed and his took in a sharp breath. "He is bleeding too much for bullet wound. It may have punctured an artery. We'll have to get him cleaned up first, and then No.1 and I will have to do a minor surgery to repair it." Holly's eyes widened in shock; artery repair was _minor _surgery? But Artemis gave Ash a comforting smile. "You'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Oh, that I know." Ash claimed. "It's Trouble _you _should be worried about. If I'm not patched up in two weeks, he's gonna throw a hissy fit." He laughed softly, but then winced.

Holly checked her watch. "Well, I'd love to stay and watch you, uh, have surgery, but I have a battle plan meeting I have to get to. I'll be back later. If I'm not here by the time you're done, message me."

"Okay." Artemis leaned toward Holly and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. She smiled and then headed for the elevator. Even when they had been together for a whole year, and had kissed plenty of times, Artemis couldn't get over the tingle that was left behind. He smiled, then sighed.

"Alright Major. Let's get you cleaned and prepped."

**A/N: Good enough?**

**For all you Venus lovers (remember my OC) (And I know some of you are out there), she will be here, don't worry! She will probably be mentioned in the next chapter, near the end. **

**Okay, well, this is the new story and I hope you all enjoy it. I will have chapter two posted tomorrow. I have already started writing it. **

**Forever and Always, **

**The Black Rose 98**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Okay, so, here's chapter two. A lot of you are asking "Why are the fairies in New York?" or "I wonder what's going on?" Well, you will soon find out. **

**Venus, as I learned, is a difficult character to work into a story. I will try my best to get her in her the best I can, and make her back story understandable. Her full name is still Venus Willow, just so you don't get confused. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. I only own the plotline of this story. **

Chapter Two

**Location: New York, New York  
Time: 1720 (ten minutes before the meeting)  
Date: 02/09/2013**

Commander Kelp quickly typed his password into his data tablet and wiped the sweat from his brow. _Why isn't this working? _Behind him, the large projector screen flashed the _NO SIGNAL _symbol over and over, as if it were mocking him. "Foaly, come here please."

The centaur looked up from his computer, obviously aggravated, and groaned. "Commander, I'm in the middle of fixing the –"

"I don't care what you're fixing! Come here!" Trouble growled. Foaly sighed as he lazily pushed himself out of his specially designed chair, and trotted over to Trouble.

"What's wrong this time?"

"I can't get a signal with the troop in Ukraine." Trouble replied, his tone sounding frustrated. "Can you rewire or hack something to get a signal?"

Foaly yanked the tablet out of his grip. "I'll see what I can do…" He typed on the tablet for several minutes, before he handed it back to Trouble. "Don't be rude, say hello!" Foaly smiled as he waved enthusiastically to the camera on the wall behind them. Trouble glared at him, and then turned around to wave.

"How is everything over there, Captain?" He asked.

"Oh, everything is _wonderful." _A female voice replied, smiling.

"At least you're trying to be optimistic, Venus."

"Even that isn't good enough." Venus's smiled faded as she exhaled and removed her helmet. She unclipped her dark hair, allowing it cascade down her shoulders. Her usually bright green eyes looked pale from exhaustion, and for a moment, Trouble felt bad for sending a girl out in a situation like that. But she had volunteered to lead the troop.

"Things are bad here." She said. Trouble knew something bad was coming. He could tell by the way he voice shook slightly. _Oh Gods, please…_"We haven't even been here for a full twenty-four hours and I've already lost three men."

Trouble ran a hand through his hair and counted to ten, trying not to get mad at her. It wasn't really her fault that she three officers were killed. His temper had been unusually short as of late, but he was about to get mad at Venus.

He exhaled loudly. "Have you made it to the plant yet?" he asked softly. Venus shook her head slowly.

"We are waiting for the helicopter. We're still in Pripyat." She avoided Trouble's eyes. She had seen anger in those eyes so many times already, no need to look again. "Has Foaly found the exact coordinates of the German base yet?"

"No, my computer has a virus from the last German satellite that I tried to hack." Foaly replied, smacking the keyboard hard.

"I'm not sure if I want you and your troop to do this mission, Venus. It's very dangerous, and you could get sick because of the radiation. Are you sure?" Trouble finally caught her eyes. He could tell that she didn't want to do this, but was willing to do whatever it took to save her species.

"Trouble, we discussed this a million times before we left. We are going to Chernobyl to find their base. We will be fine. Foaly rebuilt the suits remember? Totally radiation proof, well, mostly radiation proof. And besides, we won't be in there for more than twelve hours, max." Trouble nodded, but still looked unconvinced. "Don't worry. We'll be fine." She gave him a soft smile. Trouble nodded again.

"Well be safe, and contact me when you're done searching. Good luck Captain." Venus saluted and the connection was ended.

Trouble sighed, and leaned on the conference table. He loved when she smiled. He didn't know what it was about her smile that just made him so, happy all of a suddenly. It's like she was an angel in disguise. The commander smiled.

She was a keeper.

**Location: Pripyat, Ukraine  
Time: 1725  
Date: 02/09/2013**

Venus cut the connection and wiped her forehead with her arm. Chernobyl, one of the most radioactive places on Earth, was their destination. Chernobyl was now twenty times more dangerous than it was in 2012. The cover that had kept the radiation inside the plant had eroded, allowing the radioactivity to fly freely. _Oh Gods, _Venus thought. _I hope these suits are as good as that centaur says they are. _Trying to forget about the fact that they may die, she clipped her hair into a tight bun and slipped her helmet over her head, letting the fans cool her down. She picked up the other helmet from the ground and through it to one of the officers.

"Put it on and turn up the air. You look like you're about to pass out Private." He took the helmet gratefully and cranked up the A/C. Venus sat next to him on the ground, leaning on the stolen Jeep that had brought them here from Brahin. They would already be in Chernobyl by now if it weren't for the crappy battery. Speaking of getting to Chernobyl, where was that helicopter?

Venus decided that it would be best to call the pilot and make sure they didn't crash.

"Hello?"

"Are you almost here?"

"Yes Captain. In fact, you should be able to see us. Set the flare down where you want us to land."

" 'Kay." She hung up and pulled an emergency flare out of her belt. She pulled the cap off and threw it about twenty yards in front of her. The helicopter came into view and began its landing procedure, when Venus began to hear something that sounded like a missile.

_Oh crap. _

"Everyone get down!"

**A/N: Not as long as the last one, but this gets better in chapter three. **

**Venus's back story will be explained as the story goes, as well as other character back stories. **

**So, Venus and Trouble, what's going on there? Find out later! :D**

**Forever and Always,**

**The Black Rose 98**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm glad you are all enjoying it! **

**Crazy Female LEPrecon, you ask so many questions that I cannot answer. YOU MUST READ!**

**Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Artemis Fowl.**

Chapter Three

**Location: Pripyat, Ukraine  
Time: 1727  
Date: 02/09/2013**

"Everyone get down!" As soon as the command was said, the officers immediately ducked behind the Jeep. The missile was collided with the rudders of the still air borne helicopter, causing an explosion. The helicopter flew over their heads and landed roughly on the street in front of them. Promptly after crashing to the ground, the engine burst into flames, causing the entire haul to explode.

Venus's heart was racing in her chest and adrenaline was pumping through her veins. She fought to keep her breath steady and silent. _A calm breath clears the mind and makes it easier to think. _She exhaled silently and grabbed a new magazine from her belt. She removed the old one from her gun and reloaded it, carefully and quietly.

She was ready to _kill _whoever had done that.

She motioned for the other officers to seal their helmets.

"Okay," Venus whispered. She knew that once the helmets were sealed, they were virtually sound proof. But she couldn't risk anything. "Wait for my mark." Everyone else nodded.

Three middle aged Soviet soldiers came out from behind a building. They were dressed in dark camouflage and were speaking fluent Russian to one another. One of the soldiers was holding a bazooka and the other two held AK-47s.

"Those Americans." One said as he reloaded the bazooka. "They think they will win this war. Not this time." The other soldiers nodded in agreement.

Venus took another deep breath, a quick battle plan passing through her head. _The snipers…_

"Glenn," she glanced at the Private next to her. "Do you have Nelson's MSR?" The officer grabbed the modular sniper rifle off his back, nodding while pulling the strap over his head. "Good. Reload it. I have an idea." She grabbed her own MSR and put a new magazine in. "Listen, everyone else stays down unless I say so. Glenn, we're gonna shoot 'em down." She stood up a little so that she could look over the hood of the Jeep. The Soviets had their backs to them. _This just got a lot easier. _Glenn followed her lead and placed the sniper on the hood, careful not to make a sound.

"I'll take the one in the middle and right." Glenn said. Venus nodded. She unsealed her helmet and took it off so that she could look through the scope. Glenn did the same. Once the crosshairs were on the backs of their targets, they pulled the triggers.

**Location: New York, New York  
Time: 1730  
Date: 02/09/2013**

Artemis placed the gas mask over Ash's face while No.1 gave him amnestics and paralytics. They had been lucky enough to be the base long enough to exactly set up the medical equipment. In the last base they had set up, it was either _"You have the surgery while you're awake" _or _"Sorry, you're dead"_. But they couldn't help it. It was all part of a deal made with Congress and the President. If the United States would give troops and weapons, the fairies would protect the country the best they could. Air strikes, unfortunately, are one of the things they can't really stop.

Germany and Russia had formed an alliance and had bombed all the major American cities first. Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and New York were down. Dallas and D.C were on the list, but the Air Force was able to shoot down those planes.

_Stop thinking about that, _Artemis thought to himself. _Or you'll mess up the surgery. _

Grabbing the scalpel from the table, Artemis made the first incision.

**Location: Fowl Manor, Dublin, Ireland  
Time: 1730  
Date: 02/09/2013**

Angeline Fowl had definitely never imagined her eldest son going to war. When Artemis had called her from Haven to tell her, she literally had a break down. Butler, who was standing near her at the time, rushed over to help. Once he placed her on the couch, Butler retrieved the cell phone from the floor.

"Hello?" he said into the speaker.

"Butler! What happened?" Artemis had replied, his voice shook slightly.

"Well…" Angeline interrupted him.

"Tell him he needs to come home for tonight." She demanded between sobs.

Artemis overheard her cries on the phone and almost broke down right then and there.

"Tell her I'll be there soon."

That night had been full of tears. Even Holly, who had flown the shuttle over there, was crying. She was crying because it was honestly the saddest thing she had ever encountered (not including the deaths of her parents). Not even Angeline had seen her son cry so hard.

And now the house was felt empty. The twins hadn't been able to sleep for a whole week, Artemis Senior didn't find out until he returned home a few days from Paris, and Butler was saddened greatly, but resisted the urge to cry.

Angeline, at the moment, was in Artemis's room, on the balcony. She crossed her arms on the railing and looked out into the distance. She was oblivious to world around her and didn't notice someone holding on to her leg.

She looked down. "Myles." She picked up the toddler and held him close. Myles laid his head down on her shoulder, wrapping his short arms around her neck.

"Mother," he began. "When is Artemis coming home?"

Angeline almost broke down in tears. "Not for while sweetie." She rubbed his back slowly and walked inside, shutting the balcony doors with her foot. She walked into the hallway, when she suddenly heard Myles sobbing quietly. Angeline let a few tears escape her eyes as she soothed him. "Everything's going to be okay. Don't worry." They went downstairs and she placed the toddler on the couch next to his sleeping twin. She pulled the blanket up to his chin and moved his hair away from his eyes. "You remind me so much of your brother." She smiles slightly and caressed his cheek. He jumped up and hugged her again.

"I love you Mum."

Angeline took a deep breath. "I love you too." She kissed his cheek and tucked him in again.

She walked away from the couch, tears running down her cheeks.

_Oh Arty…_

**A/N: Yes, I did cry writing that last bit there… (wiped eyes).**

**So, that's all I got right now. I'll try to get something in before I leave on Friday (I'm going to Jelly Stone Park. GO YOGI!). By the way, an MSR is a type of sniper rifle, so if anyone was confused about that sorry. I put AK-47s and MSRs in there because they are commonly used guns in Call of Duty and those are some of the only guns I know….**

**Forever and Always,**

**The Black Rose 98**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello again! I'm finally back from Vacation. I would love to tell you all about the great fun I had, but I'll save that for the author's note at the end. Right now, I have more important thing to discuss. **

**As you know, I started this FanFic with a character that was only mentioned in the series a couple of times. Major Vein has no main role in the Artemis Fowl series. So, that leaves me with a challenge. I have to create a personality for him, a back story. I have been waiting to do this for a while now, and I already have an idea of how I'm going to build up his character. But I may also have to do the same with Trouble Kelp and Grub, since they both are also only mention only handful of times. Venus's back story will work it's in here one way or another. **

**I already have all their back stories planned out and written down in rough drafts. You will be surprised. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Artemis Fowl and Co., a lot of small characters would have bigger roles. And the whole thing would be different. It wouldn't even be called Artemis Fowl anymore, come to think of it….**

Chapter Four

**Location: New York. New York  
Time: 1733  
Date: 02/09/2013**

Holly took a seat at the large conference table next to Chix. He had a notepad in front of him and a pen in his hand. He wrote a heading at the top of the first page in sloppy handwriting. _Conference Notes_ it read. No one really took notes at the conferences, unless it was on some form of tablet, and only the Council and Commander carried those. Officers, on the other hand, were trained to remember this sort of stuff. So Holly guessed that Chix was taking notes for Ash.

Trouble swiveled back and forth in his chair at the head of the table, a bored expression on his face. The meeting was supposed to beginning three minutes ago, but the Council chairman hadn't arrived yet, so they were all waiting on him. Cahartez was not the chairman anymore, as he had been killed in their last base in Las Vegas. The new chairman was someone Trouble despised. Jonathon Willow. After Vinyáya was killed, Willow had been next in line for chairman, if the Council voted for him, of course. They didn't know his past as well as some as the officers did, but it wasn't up to them. The Council only came to them for battle strategies and information.

Everyone looked at the door as it opened. Willow and his secretary, Jenna, walked into the room. They took their seats quietly and Jenna placed a Data-Tab on the table, opening a new file for notes.

Holly sent Willow a menacing glare. If looks could kill…

"Alright then," Trouble began, standing. "Let's began now, shall we?" He stood behind his chair, gripping the leather tightly. He pressed a key on his tablet that lay on the small glass table behind him. The login screen popped up on the screen, as well as on the projector. He typed in his code quickly, and his tablets LEP wallpaper appeared on the projector. The screen was cluttered with files, but Trouble didn't select one, not yet. "To start off, out team in Ukraine should be searching the Chernobyl reactor's for the German's base. I expect I call from them soon for the results of their search. Other than that, we have lost quite a lot of officers this week."

Chix stopped writing, and looked up at Trouble, meeting his eyes for a second. He gripped his pen. "Captain Willow has lost three men, Major Vein four, and Captain Short two. I have yet to get a connection with any other troops for news. And that brings us to the connection pole issue. We sent a group out earlier today, in hopes that we may be able to get the pole repaired and working again. The building was rigged, and the officers were lucky they made it out alive. But now, getting connection with our trooped across the Atlantic is tough. We need to send out another group tomorrow."

"Excuse me, Commander," interrupted Chix. He placed his pen on the notepad. "But the connection's pole status isn't good. The explosion destroyed the entire thing sir."

The Commander groaned. "I was worried you'd say that. Foaly, do you have any way to possibly make a new one?"

Foaly typed at a small laptop for a minute and then looked up, shaking his head slowly. "We may just have to move our location again to a place that has better connection with a connection."

Trouble swore under his breath. "Do we have enough shuttles for the trip to Paris?"

Foaly was about to answer, when Holly spoke up. "Commander, we just can't pack up and move when we have troops in Miami, Seattle, and D.C. How will we keep contact with them? As far as I know, the pole in Paris is down as well." Foaly, who was sitting on the other side of her, nodded.

"She's right. We do have enough shuttles though. Not all of them were blown to bits."

"How many are there?" Trouble asked.

"About five large battle shuttles."

Trouble nodded. "So where can we go..." Suddenly, his alarm on his tablet went off. He glanced at the screen behind him. Captain Willow was calling, and the call was labeled as _urgent. _He answered immediately.

Venus's disheveled face appeared on screen. Her face was somewhat covered in ashes and she was sweating, despite the temperature. The video was fuzzy and the sound was okay for a bad connection.

"What is it Captain? Is something wrong?"

"Yes!" she answered, panting. "They blew up the helicopter. No one inside survived the crash. And we've just shot down three Soviet soldiers who ambushed us. Everyone else is alright though."

"D'Arvit!" swore Trouble quietly. "So you don't know where the base is then?"

Venus shook her head. "We are still in Pripyat. We've searched the entire area, and we believe that it is safe to send another helicopter if you want us to still go and check Chernobyl."

"No," Trouble replied, wiping his brow. "Chernobyl is not safe right now. If they are there, they may just kill you and your troop. I'll send a helicopter, but it's to send you to New York. Understood?"

Venus nodded. "Yes sir."

"Good. Foaly, see if you can get a connection with Major Smith in Babruysk, tell him to send another helicopter." Foaly nodded and typed in his keyboard. "See you soon Captain."

The line went dead.

Trouble sighed. "I guess we will be here a few more days."

"Commander," Holly said again, her voice urgent. "Do you really think it's safe to be here for another week? They've already chased and shot down half a group near the base. They could ambush us at any moment." For some reason, Chix found this important, and wrote it down on the notepad. Or maybe he was just nervous, and writing calmed his nerves.

"I agree with Short. For all we know, one could have followed us and is scaling the building right now, looking for a way to get in." Grub argued. That made Foaly immediately alert, more than he was before. He had placed sensors outside the building, so only officer's wearing a special bracelet could enter the building or come anywhere close to it without being shocked. He opened up the security file on his laptop and checked everything. Grub looked over at him and shook his head. "You are so paranoid. It was an example, not a cold, hard fact!"

"I don't care! I need to check!"

_Oh boy, _Trouble thought. _This is going to be a long week…_

**Location: New York, New York  
Time: 0900  
Location: 02/10/2013**

After the meeting, nothing really happened. The helicopter arrived in Pripyat safely, Ash's artery was repaired successfully, and, to Foaly's luck, there was no one scaling the outside of the Empire State Building. When Trouble was finished speaking, Holly had decided that, with nothing else to do, she would head over to the medical floor and check on Artemis and Ash. He had just finished the surgery and was placing Ash into a recovery room, which was really just an old private office with medical equipment in it. Artemis and Holly had shared a brief conversation afterwards, but Artemis had other officers to check on, so Holly spent the night in a leather officer chair next to Ash's cot.

She woke up to the sound of a foil wrapper tearing. Holly was a light sleeper, and almost any noise would wake her up. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, and yawned.

"Well, good morning sleepy head." She swiveled her chair to face Ash, who was sitting up in bed eating a granola bar. She smiled and stretched her arms above her head, yawning again. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine. How's your shoulder?"

"Hurts like Hell, but I'll live." He took a bite of his granola bar, chewing silently. Holly was going to ask why he didn't ask Artemis for some pain medication but then thought better of it. _Better to keep old memories hidden away. _

The door opened abruptly, causing both of them to look up, frightened. Trouble walked in and laughed. "You should see your faces. I didn't think I could scare you both that badly." Holly glared at him and stuck her tongue out. Trouble laughed again. "So, how's your arm man?"

"It's…_okay_…"

"Hurts a lot doesn't it?" Ash nodded, and took another bite of his granola bar, ripping the piece off harder than intended. "Why don't you ask Fowl for some pain meds?" _And _you_ have to walk in here and bring them up! _Holly yelled in her head,

Ash didn't look at him. "You know why."

Trouble shook his head. "That was a long time ago Ash. A little bit of appropriately measured pain medicine isn't going to hurt you."

"I don't want any."

"I don't see why you just can't get over it and stop making yourself suffer." Trouble retorted, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "It's not like he is going to give you an intentional overdose. You're not going to get addicted again just because of some pain medication."

"I just don't want any, OK?"

"Guys, calm down. This isn't something we need to bring up now." Holly insisted. She put her hand on Ash's good shoulder. "It's okay."

Trouble groaned. "Holly, you can't keep allowing him to be so fearful."

"I'm not afraid of it alright? I just don't want it!" Ash half shouted.

"Trouble, just stop. He doesn't want it; don't force him to take it." Holly argued, glaring at Trouble. He sighed, averting his eyes from away from hers, and leaned against the wall behind the cot, He stared at the floor. Holly rubbed Ash's back, calming him. She leaned forward and whispered quietly in his ear. She knew Trouble could probably hear, but it didn't matter. He had heard this before. "Don't get so angry with him. You know his temper is short, and it's not his fault. He doesn't like getting angry with you." Ash sighed and nodded slowly. A tear slipped down his cheek and landed on the ivory bed blanket. Holly turned his head to face her. "Don't think about it." She smiled gently and pulled him into a light hug, careful not to cause his shoulder any more pain than it already was in.

Trouble sighed. _Frond, I am such a bad friend… _

**A/N: Oh, mystery….**

**So, let me know what you think! I love your reviews, and I doing virtually nothing this weekend, so I will update something. If it's not this, then it will probably be **_**The Recovery**_**. I've been working on Chapter Two for, um, quite some time now, and I expect to finish it soon. Hopefully. **

**Forever and Always,**

**The Black Rose 98**


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